The 37th Hunger Games
by GlowDust7501
Summary: Every year, 24 tributes are selected from 12 different districts to compete in a deadly game- and only one tribute makes it out alive afterwards. This year, it's the 37th Hunger Games, and Panem has a new president along with that. Coriolanus Snow. I'm using the POV of a girl tribute from District Four. Basically a prequel with only one character that you sort-of know. Rated T.
1. AN

Authors Note:

This is my first Hunger Games Fanfic, don't judge. (And my other stories are pretty terrible, I admit it.) This, as I said in the summary, is a prequel, so there's a bit of President Snow, maybe a bit of Mags. I was just really bored, and this really has nothing to do with the series, except for the fact that I'm using the world. Read & Review. Tell me if you enjoy:) All rights go to Suzanne Collins.


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

Another cannon blasted. They'd been going on for a while now. It made me sick to my stomach -more deaths, it meant- but I couldn't be worried about murder right now. Right now, I should be worried about Jason. About his long silence, not answering any of my calls. About the one warning he'd called out to her before his voice had been cut short. About the splatter of blood left in his place.

I should be worried about the amount of his traces- or lack thereof. I should be worried about the other tributes, hunting me right now. But I wasn't. I wasn't worried about anything. I was counting my death toll, and the people who had fallen under my sword. I was now officially a murderer, and I didn't care.

I didn't care about anything. My feelings were blank, nothing at all.

All of that fell away, though, as I walked into a shaded, leafy, clearing. There was a certain person lying on the floor.

 _Jason._

 **Sorry that it's short. But its a _prologue._ Review! Please?**


	3. Blood- But Not a Lot

**Part One**

On Your Marks

 **Chapter One**

Blood- But not a lot

The last thing I remember is the gentle rocking of the boat, lulling me into a place of calm happiness. I remember the morning sun on my face, the cool water lapping at my heels, feeling myself drifting off… That is, until I felt the splash of some _very_ cold water hitting me in the face.

I'm on my feet in seconds. There's a dagger in my hand, and I'm about to send it flying towards my attacker, until I see a familiar boy clutching a bucket, while on all fours, laughing his head off. I growl. Instead of a knife, I'm about to hurl a lot of well placed insults at him. Obviously he can tell, so he speaks up, and just makes it worse,

"Wakey, wakey, sleepy head." He's grinning at me, which brings on a scowl.

"What do you want, Jason?" The boy's name is Jason Menti. He's been my best friend since forever. Well, not _best_ friend, all my friends are girls, he's my best _guy_ friend. And, though I hate to admit it, he's incredibly cute. Which I try to ignore. -Who _doesn't_ think a guy with amazing chocolate-coloured hair, and shocking green eyes cute?- Anyway, I really try not to bring _that_ topic up, because I friendzoned him when we were both six. And I absolutely refuse to admit I did something wrong.

"Ummm." He pauses for effect. Putting as much sarcasm into the word _ummm._ "Maybe the fact that I want to tell you that it's reaping time?" And suddenly I'm very glad that he woke me up. Splashing water onto my face is nothing compared to what the peacekeepers would have done to me if they found me here instead of at the reaping.

"Okay then." I pause, and suddenly I have a wonderful idea. "Come here, and help me up." I hold out my arms, and he doesn't hesitate to help me get to my feet.

"I just-" His voice breaks off. Well, _I_ break it off, by pushing him over the sail boat.

"Tori!" His voice is spluttering, it's not always easy to speak while treading water, but he still manages to sound angry.

"Yes?" I keep my voice innocent, just because I know it will infuriate him more.

"I will-" Suddenly, I drown out his voice, because I can see a shape heading towards him.

"Jason!" I point towards the shape. I can see a fin poking out of the water. I don't know if it's a dolphin or a shark yet, but I get my dagger ready anyway.

"That's a shark. THAT'S DEFINITELY A SHARK!" His voice went amazingly high pitched. I would have _never_ have expected a male's voice to go that high. I could make fun of it later. But I focus more on sending my knife flying towards the fish.

It hit its mark. The dagger impaled the heart of the fowl creature. Blood filled the water incredibly quickly. I got a rope, and swung it over the side.

"You'd better get my dagger." I put just an inch of a threat into the words.

"Or what? You'll throw me to the sharks? You've already done that."

"Or I'll take out the rope, and you can swim to shore, with at least half a dozen sharks trailing you. Seeing how much blood you've got on those clothes, you wouldn't get very far."

"You'd better not!"

"Or what?" I parrot his words back to him.

"Then I'll…" He trails off, unable to come up with a good threat.

"Well you'd better hurry up, I think the rope's getting tired."

He quickly scrambles up it, then turns to me.

"Sadly, the thing is, I can imagine you pulling it away from me. You're just that evil." He says it while handing me my dear knife.

"You compliment me." He laughs.

"Hey, Miss Arrogant. Confidence is going to get you killed in the Hunger Games."

"But I'm not about to turn into a sniveling fool, though. Am I?"

He can't come up with a good enough answer, so he just takes to glaring at me. I smirk back at him. He knows that if I'm put into the Hunger Games, I _will_ come out.

"Are you still going to volunteer?" He suddenly goes all serious. He'd been begging me not to go for a few months, even though we both know that I don't really have a choice. I sigh, and turn to him.

"I have to. They're going to kill my family if I don't, and you _know_ that. So stop trying to dissuade me."

"Fine. I'm just trying to say. You might not get back. Oliver's going in there with you as well, and have you _seen_ what he can do with a spear? And that's not to mention that he hates you."

" _That_ weirdo? Trust me, he has no chance. The fact that he absolutely _loathes_ me just makes him even more weak." I pause to study Jason's facial expression, but he gives nothing away. "Plus, I've been watching him. He's good with a spear, yes. But _only_ the spear. I'm amazing with _all_ weapons. I'll be fine." Neither of us mention the other careers. I don't know what I'm up against when it comes to them.

"Yes, but-"

"But what? Stop worrying yourself. I repeat, I will be fine."

"Fine. Let's go. They're going to kill us both _before_ the Hunger Games if we're late." We go home, and change clothes. We meet each other at the entrance to the town square, I stop Jason.

"Race?" I only need to ask once. He grins back at me.

"You bet."

"On your marks."

"Get set." He adds.

"GO!" We both sprint towards the reaping stage. And as I look at him, I can tell we're both laughing.

 **Review?**


	4. The Rabbit and the Hare

Chapter Two

The Rabbit and the Hare

He beats me by a hair. A hair. And even that might be an exaggeration. But both our smiles slide off of our faces as we see the reaping bowls, and the seriousness of the situation settles in. We don't say a word as we file off to our sectors. -Him to the 16 year-old boys sector, and me to the girls 15 year-old sector.- I see him slide into the middle of a crowd of his friends. And I join mine. All of the girls give me pitying looks. Everyone knows that I'm going in, and everyone knows that I don't want to.

The chattering crowd goes silent as the escort walks onto the stage. She beams at all of us. And when she speaks, her voice is as high as always.

"Welcome, welcome. It is the 37th Hunger Games. I am Pearl Bonneville, as you probably know. And today we get to find out which tributes from District Four are going in!"

She's too excited, I think with disgust, as she bounces over to the girls reaping bowl. I hate overly happy people: they're too optimistic, and they ignore pain even if it's staring them in the face. Of course, that can be used to describe every single person from the capitol. They think it entertaining to watch 23 kids die annually.

She picks off the tiny slip of paper that's directly at the top.

"Kathleen Whitford!" I exchange glances with Kathleen, bemused. She's a tall, athletic girl, with long honey blond hair. Which, at this moment, is pulled into a braid. We're best friends, so it's fitting that I get to volunteer for her. She doesn't even bother to make her way towards the stage before the words are out of my mouth.

"I volunteer!" I'm already moving as I say it. I go up the steps 2 at a time, and am next to Pearl in a matter of seconds. She smiles at me, and I smile back. She looks happier, then, as though my smile means a lot to her.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Victoria. Victoria Winter." And then District Four applauds my 'bravery' even though they knew I was going to volunteer. Then she bounds towards the boys bowl.

"Jason Menti!" I don't panic. I know that Oliver is going to volunteer at any moment. I scan the crowds for Oliver's pale blond hair. And look at him. He looks right back. And suddenly he's mouthing the word payback at me. And it sinks in. No. He's going to make Jason go in, as revenge for me refusing him all those months ago. He knows that Jason's probably going to die. And the worst thing is, he's not going to get in trouble for not volunteering, just because his father is the head peacekeeper.

"Jason! Up here if you please!" Pearl's voice jerks me out of my thoughts. Oliver looks away to watch Jason mount the steps. And I follow his gaze. Jason doesn't look afraid. But we were all taught to hide our emotions, so I don't really know how he feels. He smiles at Pearl, and we shake hands. I feel slightly better in his familiar grip, and we both look directly at each other, silently deciding to try to keep the other alive. And then the roar of the crowd applauding as response to Pearl breaks our eye contact.

We're taken to the justice building. As always. Although I've never been in here, I can't help but think, as I look around, that it's a bit plain. But then I think that that thought was incredibly selfish of me. It's not my fault my mother was a victor. Then the time comes for us to say goodbye. My first visitors are obvious, my father and sister. But then comes in Oliver.

In one second, I'm on top of him, holding a dagger to his throat. I want to scream at him, but then the peacekeepers would rush in. He starts laughing, and I'm about to slit his throat anyway, when he rolls over, straddling me, and pins my wrist over my head. I growl at him, but he just smirks.

"Maybe I should have done this instead of waiting for your permission." He grins at me, covering my mouth to prevent me from spitting at him. He uses my dagger to teasingly trace the outlines of my face. "The wonders I would have done. You would have been incredibly willing by the end of it."

He's disgusting. I know perfectly well what he means by 'the wonders', and I'm incredibly glad that I said no to him, many months ago. He gets steadily back to his feet, and looks directly at me.

"Come back home, darling, everyone knows you will." He's purposely trying to infuriate me, and it's working exceptionally well. But then the peacekeeper knocks on the door to symbolize that Oliver's time was up, and I can't come up with a witty comeback in time.

My next visitor is my trainer. Who just happens to be my mother. Exceptionally talented, Emily Winter won the Hunger Games in 1 day. She took out 2 thirds of the tributes in the bloodbath, and the survivors didn't stand a chance. She murdered her fellow Careers before they could kill her, and the crown was hers after she hunted down the others. She was nicknamed 'Frostbite' because of her last name, and because of her deadliness. She is amazing with a trident, and even more skilled at producing words that stung. I had respected her immediately. As a trainer, she was amazing. At parenting… not so much.

This conversation was incredibly short, mainly because as my mentor, her job was to accompany me to the train. She did have a bit of advice for me, though, but it was advice I already knew, so I tuned her out. When we got to the train though, I did have a question for her.

"So… Am I going to appear as confident and deadly, or witty and deadly?"

"A mixture of both. But don't worry, I know perfectly well how to make the crowd love you." She didn't offer up any more information, so I just decided to trust her, for now.

I went straight to my room as soon as we boarded the train. I wanted to have a shower before dinner, but I didn't expect my rooms to be as fancy as they were. It was only a train, after all. But for some reason, the designers had felt the need to have the walls made of glass, while full of turquoise water, and for the furniture to be gold. My bed itself was big enough to fit at least 7 people, if not more, and the bathrooms had both a massive bath, and shower.

I took advantage of the bath, and filled it with all my favorite bubbles, soap, and scents. As I submerged myself in the water, I allowed myself to think back to the eventful day that had sparked the hatred between me and Oliver.

 **Review?**


	5. The Flashback

**The Flashback**

 _It had been Friday Eve, (our nickname for Thursday night, since everyone was always waiting for Friday) and the people who were supposed to volunteer had had their names called. It had been me and Oliver. We were sent to another room to practice, it was just us. So I took the time to study him._

 _Though I hate to admit it now, when I first looked at him, I remember thinking about how cute he was. He had pale blond hair, sky blue eyes, and those incredibly long lashes that all boys seemed to have. But his most defining trait was his smirk. He had a look, that whenever he directed it at you, would make a girls heart melt._

 _He saw me watching him, and sent that dazzling smirk my way. I tried to brush it off, and stared right back. I_ would not _blush._

" _Like what you see?" I did, but I wasn't about to admit that to him._

" _You wish, I'm just sizing up the_ _competition."_

" _Really? Well in that case…" Without even looking away from my face, he threw his spear directly at the target. I, without even blinking an eye, intercepted it with one of my own knives, just before it hit the bullseye. He would have to do better than that._

" _Interesting… I'm impressed." If he was, he didn't sound_ or _look it._

" _The feeling's mutual."_

" _It is? You find me impressive? I'm honoured." I raised my eyebrows._

" _I was talking about myself." He laughed. But it wasn't a nice laugh, it sounded like he was laughing at me._

" _I would have expected a victor's daughter to be amazingly arrogant. You've exceeded my expectations." He stalked towards me, so we weren't talking to each other from across the room. He stopped about a foot away, and I resisted the urge to step back._

" _Should I be glad?" He smirked at me._

" _That you've captured my attention? Yes. That it's not good attention? No."_

" _And you call me arrogant." He stepped even closer to me, and that time, I couldn't help but step back. His smirk grew even more wider._

" _Do I make the amazing Tori Winter nervous?"_

" _No. And don't call me Tori."_

" _I thought that you let your friends call you that though._ Tori."

" _I do. But you're not my friend." He teasingly put on a sad expression._

" _I'm insulted-" I cut him off.  
_ " _I don't care" But he continued as if he hadn't heard me._

" _-But I'm also complimented. It obviously means you want us to be something more." As he said that, he moved ever closer, and I moved ever away, until I felt my back hit the cool, marble wall. His arms came down on either side of me. I was trapped. I did my best to keep my cool. And I silently cursed my heart for beating that little bit faster._

" _First of all, it wasn't a compliment. And second of all there's no_ us _."_

" _Oh, but there is. We're both tributes, remember?"_

" _Yes, but_ only _tributes. Nothing more. And, by the end of the year. At least one of us is going to be dead."_

" _Exactly, which is why," His body was suddenly pressed against mine, and his voice lowered to a whisper. "-We'd better have our fun now."_

 _I tried to wiggle away, but he stopped me. It didn't help that he was bigger than me. Stronger. He also had both my hands and legs trapped. His lips were right next to my ear, so I heard him very clearly._

" _Tell me,_ Tori. _Are you interested in someone?" I let out a small whimper, and tried to claw away his hands, which were playing with my hair._

" _Stop!" I hated my voice for sounding so desperate._

" _Do you really want me to?"He smirked into my neck."Of course, that obviously means that you are one. This will be_ fun. _I'm probably your first kiss as well…" I shifted my head away from him. Mostly because he was popping my personal bubble, but also so he wouldn't sense that my hormones were getting the best of me._

" _Now, see how much this would work out_ Tori _? The best fighters from District Four, in the Hunger Games together. Star-crossed lovers. The Capitol would fall all over themselves to sponsor us. And neither of us are bad looking, either." It hit me, what he was saying. And the worst part was, it would work, too._

" _Maybe I would go along with it. But I like someone else." I didn't really, but I wanted to see his reaction. Yet he didn't even flinch._

" _Is it that Menti boy? Forget him. I'm much better than him, trust me."_

" _I can't. Trust_ me _." I looked at him directly in the eye. "And, no. It's not Jason." He might have been stronger than me. But I was more agile. I pressed my lips against him, and in that moment, he was so surprised, his grip loosened. I took the opportunity to swing his feet out from under him, and as he fell, I sprinted out of the room. Taking one of the training daggers with me._

Just in case.

 **Review please!**


	6. My Mother My Mentor

**Chapter 3**

My mother. My Mentor

I entered the dining cart with my hair wonderfully dry. Turns out, some of the buttons in the shower were actually useful. I noticed a button that said _Blow Dry,_ and pressed it. I didn't even need a towel. I was completely dry in about 3 seconds. At least _one_ of the capitol's fancy appliances was actually useful. My mother called me over as soon as she saw me.

"Victoria! It's time to see the reapings!" I nodded at her, and worked my way over. But not before I got a slice of french toast. I settled myself on the settee, next to Jason. He nodded at me, then pressed the _play_ button. It started with District 1, as always. For once, neither of them were good looking. That wouldn't help us, since they probably would be our allies. The only way I could remember their names, was because of how weird they were. 'Crystal Alanta' and 'Evan Young'. I really felt sorry Crystal, what was wrong with her parents?

Next was District 2. Thankfully, the boy was incredibly handsome, and buff. But to my dismay, the girl was _ugly._ Their names were Karter Gray- which was okay, I guess- And Sparta Troy. I'm completely serious. I mean, what the heck? Yes, her parents had an ugly child, but didn't they even pay attention in History? It said _specifically_ in there, that the city of Sparta, and the city of Troy, were complete _rivals._ Did they want her to be 'at war with herself?' or something?

District 3 had no one interesting, I didn't even bother to remember the girl's name, but the boy's was something like Owen Smith.

Then it was my turn. I could see myself, mostly because Kathleens hair shone in the bright noon sun. And when her name was called, I saw us exchange glances, before I volunteered. I was glad to see that I didn't look nervous, and as soon as Jason's name was called it switched to Lance Friedman of District 5, then the girl. Who was so small, I thought I might cry. Then to Stephan something of District Six.

District Seven was interesting, though. Ariana Sky was an amazingly fit person, even though all they did there was cut down trees. She would probably be good with an axe. And might just get into the alliance. Her district partner, though. I-Don't-Know Saleem was another weakling.

District Eight, I didn't care about. District Nine, I didn't either. District Ten, was a confident volunteer, which was weird. Her name was something like Tiana, and her partner was another weakling. District Eleven had a strong, dark haired boy, who looked like he could give Karter Gray a run for his money. Then District Twelve surprised me. There was a boy there, that as soon as the microphone was near him, leaned in and said,

"District Twelve. I will try my best to come home." This caused raised eyebrows, and when I looked closer at him. I decided that I respected him. There was a look in his eyes- a will to survive.

"Keep an eye out for that one." My mother told me. "He might take after his mentor." Of course she was talking about Victor Jackson. And yes, his name was _Victor,_ I don't mean that he was a victor. That idiot won last year, he got a pickaxe, and used it on his opponents in the same way you would a piece of coal. It wasn't fair. I nodded at her.

"Okay." She smiles encouragingly at me, she almost looks like a mother then.

 **I'm sorry this chapter is short, I don't really know what to write**

 **Read and Review PLEASE!**


	7. A Very Pretty Tail

**Chapter 4**

 **A Very Pretty Tail**

When I arrived in the prep room, I got myself ready for the worst. When I left it, I understood that I hadn't prepared enough. My next stop, my stylist was an _incredibly_ bubbly woman, even worse than Pearl. I hated her on sight.

And I was right to do so. When I figured out what I was supposed to be, I was furious. Apparently, I was going to become a fish. Well, not exactly a fish. _Part_ fish. Something called a _mermaid._ The things that the people before Panem had come up with. So now, I had a green tail. That green tail required me to be carried to the chariots, by Jason. Who was shirtless.

He apparently was another part-tail creature, but his tail was waiting on the chariot. As he carried me, my body was way too close to his bare chest. I tried to distance myself away from it, discreetly. But he noticed, and smirked down at me.

"What's wrong, Tori?" Why, oh why, did he have to make this awkward? I was pretty sure that my face was red.

"Nothing!" My voice was stupidly high pitched. His smirk grew wider. _Why did all boys have to act this way!_ My mind practically screamed the thought. _Annoying, frustrating, stupid, BOYS!_ He quite promptly drew me closer. I slapped him.

"Idiot."

"Ouch." He dropped me on the seat for the chariot. Hard. But from the tone of his voice, I knew he was joking. My stupid stylist came over next.

"Are you completely ready? Good, good. I'm sure you'll make a _splash_ as soon as Panem sees you!" I rolled my eyes at her pun, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason doing the same.

"Thank you… Um…." My voice trailed off, unable to remember her name. She smiled at me.

"Renee, dearie." What was with the Capitol and their names of endearment? I smiled at her. I didn't know whether or not my smile looked forced. From Jason stuffing his fist in his mouth to keep from roaring with laughter, though. I was pretty sure it did. Renee brushed it off though.

"Anyway, time to get on the chariots!" We did as she said, with her fussing over us, every step of the way. She had to stop, though, when the chariot started moving.

As soon as our chariot entered the stadium, my ears picked up nothing. For a second, there was silence. Then we were hit by a _blast_ of noise. People were screaming and cheering our names like they'd known us since _forever_. I reached out, and grabbed Jason's hand. He took it without hesitating. The sound that came next felt like it busted my eardrums. I saw the cameras zooming in on us, well, more importantly, our hands. I heard Eddy Reynal over the crowd. His speech irked me to no end.

"And it looks like the tributes from District Four have more than a friendship on their mind!" I exchanged a look with Jason, he looked nowhere _near_ as annoyed as I was. But when he saw the look on my face, he understood. The silent message passed between us, we both agreed what to do. In perfect synchronization, we both called out:

"We have more of a friendship than you'll ever had!" It was rude, and we both knew it. But we both also knew that it would get us more sponsors. The Capitol _always_ loved the bolder tributes. The Capitol laughed at that, and Eddy joined their mirth only a second after.

"Looks like we have a pair of REAL fighters this year!" His voice was bright,and triumphant. And just like that, we won the crowd over.

After another round, listening to our names being chanted, the president started speaking. It was another long, droning speech about the history of the Hunger Games. It was _boring._ However, the president himself was not. The old president, Gregory Wasman had died of a strange food poisoning. I was pretty sure the new president was the person behind it.

He was a young, fit man. In his late teens or twenties, he was quite obviously in the prime of his years. And he had nicely coloured hair. A blond that was a brown, but not quite. His blue eyes looked strangely like Oliver's. But that wasn't possible. And he was a _lot_ more good-looking then Oliver. Those blue eyes were looking straight at me, even while his mouth moved, forming words that went on, and on, and on. I remembered from the history lessons that his name was Coriolanus Snow. A strange name for a strange person.

When going up to our rooms, I didn't think of the beauty of the rooms, or the death glares that the other tributes had sent us. I thought of the president, and his weirdly watchful gaze.

 **I'm sorry this chapter is terrible. I had writers block. Review?**


	8. Training Time

**Chapter 5**

 **Training Time**

I woke up the next day to Pearls chirping,

"Rise and shine, sleepy heads!" I groaned into my pillow. I was finally getting used to not having to wake up early, and here she was, ruining it.

"Victoria! Do you want to go to training or not?" I did, but I just prefered to ignore her more. I wanted to sleep.

"Jason Menti! Help me with her!" I heard pounding footsteps coming towards me, and then a huge heavy object jumping onto my back.

"Jason!" I managed to groan out. He responded by jumping up and down more.

"Training time, Tori!" He yelled into my ear. I rolled over, and threw him to the ground, off of the bed. He landed with a hard _thud._ I laughed at him. His breath left his lungs in a loud whoosh.

"Is something wrong?" I said innocently.

"No." He said sarcastically, "It's not like I almost broke my back, or anything." I rolled my eyes.

"You woke me up early though!" I put a whine into my voice, "I was happy sleeping!"

"It's training time! Plus, Pearl woke you up, not me!" I ignored his logic, preferring to be annoyed with him. It was much more fun, after all.

"Fine. You can go now. Unless you want to watch me change." I meant to say it to make him get out, but he stayed, looking like a complete _boy._ I decided to become more final, and spoke again. "YOU CAN LEAVE NOW! GET OUT JASON!" He left quickly, an annoying smirk still hovering on his lips. I changed quickly into a loose fitting indigo shirt, and black jeans. I was out in 5 minutes.

I _did_ take my time with my breakfast though, since it tasted amazing. It wasn't fish for once. Well, I _tried_ to take my time with breakfast, _trying_ to ignore everyone trying to rush me. Sadly, we were downstairs in under 30 minutes.

The training center looked exactly like the one in District 4. Except for the fact that the gamemakers were watching us. I stood with the other careers, as the head of the trainers talked to us about how much better survival was compared to weapons. I noticed all of the careers rolling our eyes.

As soon as he finished his worthless lecture. (Though I noticed the lower districts hanging onto his every word) I all but ran to the knife-throwing station.

I picked the sharpest (and deadliest) throwing knife, and gripped the handle. _Throw. Perfect shot. Next knife. Throw. Another perfect shot._ I started to entertain myself by intercepting each one of the knives that the beginners threw. Well, I did, until they asked me to stop.

Next I went to the swordfighting station. The swords there were beautiful. Blades gleaming silver, smoothly crafted. I went straight to the most deadly looking one. After all, it felt _right_ in my hand. With one flick of my wrist, I butchered one dummy, the another, then another. I got bored quickly. To challenge myself, I asked 3 of the trainers to fight me.

Then 5, then 7, then 13. It was at 17 that things started to get interesting. They were stupid, and all ran at me at the same time. With one sweep of my feet, 5 of them were on the ground, their breath knocked out of them.

I flipped over them, and met the next 5 head on. With one slap of the side of the blade, the first one was disarmed. Then I used his blade to parry the blows of another two. I disarmed the first one, and used his body to knock over the other 3. I wasn't allowed to kill them… yet.

The remaining 7 circled me. I allowed myself a grin. _Come on, try._ I urged them. They complied to my thoughts. One of them managed to grab me in a headlock, but I used the momentum to swing me through the air, and kick the heads of 2 more of them. Then I headbutted the one holding me. He went down quickly.

2 of them came sprinting full out on either side of me. Which was a big mistake. Just as they reached me, I calmly stepped forwards. They ran each other. That was those two down. Then I started the _real_ fencing. _Lunge forwards, block. Hit the handle and hand, block._ I moved at a steady rhythm. _Feint to the left, aim for the neck. One down._ The remaining trainer held up both his hands in surrender, I allowed my grin to grow wider. And held the blade to his neck.

" _Dead._ "

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